Screen pipe



Nov. 4, 1958 S.'M. AKEYSON SCREEN PIPE Filed June 14. 1954 I l l l I I I l I. L

f/V/A M 4/f A'YIOM AZXW 2,858,894 Fatented Nov. 4, 1958 United States Patent Ofiice SCREEN PIPE Swan Ak'eyson, Long B eacm Calif. Application June 14, 1954,SEfiEiI--N6I436494 4 Claim's.- (Cl. 166'-230) In producing oil wells the lower end-of the casing-v is termed aliner and is constructed with openings,-.perforations or slots so that oil can flow into the casing, but sand, gravel and the like is excluded.

I An object of my invention is to construct aperforated liner for an oil well in a simple, e'ifective and inexpensive manner.

An object of my invention is to fabricate an oil well screen or liner of a plurality of *superimposed layersof woven screen, the inner layer or layers being formed of a heavy woven wire with larger openings between the strands of wire, while the outer layer or covering of woven wire is formed of accurately spaced strands of wire and so closely woven that sand, gravel and the like is excluded.

Another object of my invention is to provide a novel oil well screen or liner of tubular form, in which the superimposed layers of screen wire may be reinforced to stand compression forces by means of long vertical strips of metal fixedly attached to the surface of the Wire screen and spaced around the periphery thereof, and also certain of these strips being constructed to secure the butted edges of the screen together, by a claw or gripping action.

Another object of my invention is to provide a novel oil well screen or liner in which there is a greater opening per lineal foot in the inner screen than was heretofore possible with other constructions. Furthermore, there is less chance of covering or sealing the openings in the screen or liner than in constructions heretofore used.

Other objects, advantages and features of invention may appear from the accompanying drawing, the subjoined detailed description and the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my screen pipe formed according to my method.

Figure 2 is an enlarged side elevation with parts broken away to show interior construction.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary side elevation of my screen or liner construction.

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4-4 of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary side elevation of one of the clamp strips or connectors.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the numeral 1 indicates a perforated liner which is set within the bore of the well and through which oil and the like is produced. The liner consists of an upper threaded coupling 2 and a lower threaded coupling 3. These couplings enable the liner or screen to be attached to adjacent pipe stands. Extending between the couplings 2 and 3, I provide a coarse wire screen 4 which is rolled into tubular form and is then attached at its upper end to the coupling 2 by means of a weld or the like, and is similarly attached at its lower end by a weld or the like to the coupling 3. The tubular screen 4 is formed of heavy wire strands woven together and provided with relatively large openings 5 through which oil or the like may pass. The

butting edges of the rolled wire-'4 are'fastened together to' form a tube by means of the fastener 6, which is provided with spaced fingers 7 adapted to project through the openings inthe screen 4,--,and are then bent around a strand of'the screen 'thusholding the Screen in proper rolled-or tubular form. The strips 6 also serve as reinforcement and to increase-thecompression strength of the wire. Additionalstrips may be added as necessary and,-if desired, these'vertical'strips-may also be welded to the 'wire if thecompression loads are very' high. For greater-strength twoormore layers of coarse screen 4 may be used, if necessary. The outer screen or covering 8 is also tubular in form and'is superimposed on: the screen 4 and is speciallyconst-ructed in the following manner:

Vertically spaced-andhorizontally extending rings v9 consist of an accurately-sized metal w-ire. The-rings 9 are accuratelyindented or bent so as to receive the vertical stran'ds' 10. The vertical s'tran'ds 10 are thus accurately spaced by theindentati'ons in the rings 9. Fine slots are thus formed between adjacent strands -10. The slots between the adjacentstrands.10are-smaller than thediameter of the-smallest-pa-rticle.ofgravelorsand. I thus accurately provide largenumbers of accurately constructed slots in the outer screen or liner 8 whereby the small gravel or sand particles are excluded from entering the liner. The outer screen 8 may also be welded or otherwise attached to the couplings 2 and 3, or the outer screen 8 may be directly attached to the inner or coarse screen 4 by the same type of connector 6, previously described, and indicated in this capacity as the connectors 6.

In constructing my screen pipe or liner the coarse screen 4 is first cut in the proper length and is then rolled to form a pipe or tube of the proper diameter. Clamps or couplings 6 are then attached to the screen 4 at the butting edges thereof, thus holding the screen in proper tubular form. The tubular screen 4 is now welded or otherwise fixedly attached to the threaded couplings 2 and 3. The outer or fine screen 8 is now rolled to the proper diameter and the butting edges thereof are also connected by similar fasteners 6". The outer or fine screen 8 is placed over the inner or coarse screen 4 and is suitably fixedly attached to the inner screen by suitable means such as welding or connectors, such as the type previously described and indicated at 6". With this construction it is possible to obtain sufiicient structural strength so that the pipe or screen may support the required weight, and at the same time the inner coarse screen portion provides a greater number of openings per linear foot than is possible with solid pipe which has been cut or slotted. Also the outer fine screen constructed in the manner described provides a very accurate slot or opening, so that sand or gravel is efiectively excluded.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A tubular oil well screen, the wall of the tubular screen portion being formed entirely of screen material, consisting of an inner tubular member formed of heavy wire and having large interstices between the strands of wire, a threaded coupling fixedly mounted on the upper end of said inner member, a threaded coupling fixedly mounted on the lower end of said inner member, and a fine wire tubular screen formed of small strands of wire closely spaced and entirely surrounding said inner member and extending between said upper and lower couplings.

2. A tubular oil well screen, the wall of the tubular screen portion being formed entirely of screen material, comprising an inner tubular member formed of strands of heavy wire, said strandsbeing spaced to form large interstices therebetween, a clamp strip extending vertically over the butting edges of said inner member, fingers on the clamp strip extending through the interstices in the inner member and bent to engage the wire strands, an

outer fine wire screen superimposed on the inner member and extending from top to bottom thereof, said fine wire screen being woven of strands of wire of small diameter and closely spaced to form small interstices between said strands, an upper threaded coupling fixedly mounted on the upper end of said inner member, and a second threaded coupling fixedly mounted at the lower end of said inner member, and vertical reinforcing strips fixedly attached to said inner member and extending'vertically between the upper and lower couplings.

3. A tubular oil well screen, the wall of the tubular screen portion being formed entirely of screen material, comprising an inner tubular member formed of strands of woven heavy-wire, said strands being spaced to form large interstices therebetween, an outer fine wire screen superimposed on the inner member and extending from top to bottom thereof, said fine wire screen being formed with horizontal rings and vertical strands of fine wire interwoven with the rings, the vertical strands of fine wire being closely spaced to form small interstices between said strands, an upper threaded coupling fixedly mounted on the upper end of said inner member, and a second threaded coupling fixedly mounted on the lower end of said inner member.

4. A tubular oil well screen, the wall of the tubular screen portion being formed entirely of screen material, comprising an inner tubular member formed of strands of woven heavy wire, said strands being spaced to form large interstices therebetween, an outer fine wire screen superimposed on the inner member and extending from top to bottom thereof, said fine wire screen being formed with horizontal rings and vertical strands of fine wire interwoven with the rings, the vertical strands of fine wire being closely spaced to form small interstices between said strands, an upper threaded coupling fixedly mounted on the upper end of said inner member, and a second threaded coupling fixedly mounted on the lower end of said inner member, and reinforcing strips fixedly attached to said inner member and extending vertically between the upper and lower couplings.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 152,652 Knowlton June 30, 1874 615,847 Hansen Dec. 13, 1898 20 2,007,862 Hurxthal July 9, 1935 2,090,545 Moore Aug. 17, 1937 2,217,370 Johnston Oct. 8, 1940 2,388,640 Moore Nov. 6, 1945 2,725,144 Smith Nov. 29, 1955 UNITED STATES PATENTS 21,149 Australia Aug. 25, 1905 23,176/ Australia Sept. 10, 1936 

